A chance to visit a new ground midweek while down in Bournemouth saw me visit the Abbey, home of Hamble FC, in their Hampshire Senior Cup match against Southampton FC CC.

The Abbey used to be known as the Shell-Mex ground, and is located in Hamble which is on the very edge of Southampton. The Abbey boasts a nice clubhouse, set back from the ground, refreshment stands, a wooden grandstand, floodlighting and a grass pitch.

Hamble Club FC, nicknamed the Monks, play in the Wessex League Premier Division and qualified for the third round of the Hampshire Senior Cup by beating Lymington Town away 1-8 in the last round.

This season has been a really positive one for the Hamble Club under manager, Mathew Gregory. They sit second in the Wessex League Premier Division, with seventeen wins, three draws and just four defeats from their twenty four games. Hamble FC have scored at a rate of over two a game, with goals this season coming from Clayd Roach (24 goals), Matthew Casey (13 goals) and Brandon Fouglas (7 goals).

Southampton FC would have sent a side mixed with reserves and youth players to represent the club in the Hampshire Senior cup. It’s been a tough season for the club on their return to the Premier League this season, so the Hampshire Senior Cup presents a rare chance for silverware this season.

The first half was evenly fought. Hamble Club FC looked most likely to score as Southampton appeared defensively nervous. In balance to this was the pace and accuracy of Southampton FC’s counter attack.

On 36 minutes Southampton’s centre Broghan Sewell, passed back into his own net leaving the keeper, Khiani Shombe, flat footed and putting Hamble Club FC 1-0 ahead. The home side took this lead into the half time break and nearly went further ahead having a chance cleared off the line, virtually as the referee blew his whistle.

After the break both teams struggled to make inroads. Hamble Club FC’s Sol Mazi worked tirelessly to creat chances but was matched by Southampton’s Benjamin Sheaf, who collected loose balls and sprayed out passes confidently.

With 75 minutes gone, the outcome of the match looked into focus decisively. Hamble Club Fc were suddenly two ahead. The Southampton FC keeper, Khiani Shombe, over committed himself when dealing with a cross and the ball fell neatly to Chris Kapend for Hamble Club FC, who made no mistake to fire home. The home crowd went wild and you could feel a surge of confidence go through the home players.

Southampton did fight until the end, although normally potent strikers Nick Oyekunle and Sufianu Sillah Dibaga both seemed to have left their shooting boots behind tonight.

At the fulltime whistle it was the home side, who came into the tie very much as underdogs, who sent the partisan crowd of 354 home happy, progressing into the next round to face Sholing FC.